Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The purpose of this committee is not to determine whether Ireland is a tax haven but to look at how we try to get more from our multinational companies to help contribute to the recovery of the country and ensure we are not being used by multinational companies in legal tax avoidance. On the issue of tax havens, which has come up in the US Senate, Professor Barry says it is Alice in Wonderland stuff and that we should refer to the OECD criteria for tax havens. Would Professor Barry not agree that, using the same criteria of the OECD, his claim that Bermuda or the Cayman Islands is a tax haven is equally Alice in Wonderland because they do not fit the criteria of tax haven as expressed by the OECD, which has been confirmed to this committee by an eminent member of the OECD at the last hearing?